Recent Accessions of Gothic SculptureAuthor(s): F. V. P.Source: Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin, Vol. 11, No. 61 (Feb., 1913), pp. 6-8Published by: Museum of Fine Arts, BostonStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4423573 .

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XI, 6 MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN

Recent Accessions of Gothic Sculpture

THROUGH the kindness of the Visiting

Committee to the division of Western Art, and other donors, six pieces of Gothic sculpture have lately been added to the small number before pos- sessed by the Museum. Two stone columns and two wooden statuettes of the Madonna and Child and St. Barbara were the gift of the Committee. A Madonna and Child in stone was purchased with a fund contributed by past pupils of the Museum School through Mrs. Samuel J. Mixter and Mr. Joseph Lindon Smith ; and a stone relief, Piet? and Donors, was given by Mrs. George R. Agassiz and Mr. George R. White. For the present these sculptures have been installed in the east end of the Tapestry Gallery.

The larger of the wooden groups (h. 80 m.) given by the Committee is represented in Fig. 1, with one of the stone columns as a pedestal. The Madonna is seated on a rectangular bench with moulded ends painted red. The length of the body is unusual, and the face is also long, with high, flat forehead, full eyes and small mouth, giving a placid expression. She wears a long robe of light green- ish blue over an undergarment girdled at the waist, which shows traces of red, blue and gold. The robe, held high about the neck by a jewelled clasp, has a border in relief goldwork, and a blue

lining shot with black. A crown rests on the dra-

pery over the head which falls in a few straight folds and forms a cape around the shoulders. The

figure of the Child held on the left knee of the Virgin is much worn, as is the rest of the statuette, but ap- pears to be clothed in a long simple garment reaching nearly to the feet. The back of the figure is hollow.

Very little remains of the original color, which had as a foundation a thin coat of gesso on linen. This is an example of French art of the thirteenth or early fourteenth century, and is said to be of the School of Auvergne. It retains the characteristics of the early figures on the portals of Amiens and Notre Dame at Paris, which influ- enced French representations of the Virgin for

nearly two hundred years. Figure sculpture in France was at first confined to ornaments for the

French Gothic Wooden Statuette and Stone Column Madonna and Child. French Fourteenth Century

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MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN XI, 7

Piet? With Saints and Donors French Gothic

outside or inside of cathedrals and was kept subordinate to the architecture. The artists were

usually monks who worked for the glory of the

church, and who were controlled in their work by their Superior and by tradition. But with the fourteenth century a gradual change took place. The practice of art began to increase among lay- men. More realism was introduced, drapery was less simple, attitudes became somewhat less angular and faces were less conventional. There was a demand for artists to decorate private residences and

palaces, and French architects and sculptors were sent for from other countries, France being far in advance of Italy and the rest of Europe at that

period- The wooden statue of St. Barbara, patroness of

Mantua and Ferrara, represents the saint standing beside the tower in which she was confined by her noble father to prevent her marriage. While a prisoner she was converted to Christianity and then ordered three windows built in her tower, in-

stead of two, as at first planned, to

represent the three windows, or Divine Trinity > through which the soul receives light. The tower is round with battlements and conical

top, and has a porch with Gothic door and knocker, the whole painted a light blue. The saint stands on a small base painted green doubt- less to imitate grass. Her gown is blue over a red skirt, and has wide sleeves with deep turned-back cuffs. Her robe, of dark blue and red, is fastened by a strap across the chest. A good deal of the paint has

dropped off, but the wood is not worm-eaten like that of Fig. 1. Both hands are missing, also the halo which was no doubt attached to the nail that is in the top of the head. The left arm is fastened to the body by three wooden pegs. The face is rather of the South German type, with pointed nose and chin, and high forehead, from which the hair is combed and allowed to fall down the back in a

wavy mass, dark blue in color. The Madonna and Child in

stone (Fig. 2, 1.02 m. high), which comes from the collection in the well-known Maison Bereng?re at Le Mans, recently dispersed, is typi- cal of fourteenth century French art. The pose, arrangement of the

drapery, and the face are more realistic than in thirteenth century work, although following its general lines. The color has entirely dis-

appeared and the stone has ac-

quired a soft wax-like surface. The Virgin wears a loose gown, low at the neck, with a large ornament at the breast. It is con- fined at the waist by a narrow girdle, the loose end of which falls nearly to the ground at the left side. Her short outer garment is caught up on the left arm which supports the Child, and is thrown back from the right which holds the stem of a flower. A jewelled crown holds in place the short veil which reveals the parted, wavy hair. The tip of one pointed shoe shows beneath the robe. The Child wears a short-sleeved gown nearly covering the feet and holds a dove in his left arm. The right arm and tips of the toes are broken. Both faces show the smiling expression which is characteristic of French Gothic represen- tations of this subject. The figure is partly finished at the back and is drilled twice for attachment to a wall or pillar.

The three-sided stone niche (Fig. 3,1.42 m. h. x. .87 m. w.), with vaulted roof and Gothic canopy, contains a group of eight persons. God the Father,

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XI, 8 MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN

enthroned, supports in his arms the figure of the dead Christ, whose feet rest on a globe, signifying power or dominion. At the left stands St. Joseph, an open book in one hand, the other resting on the head of the first of the kneeling donors. St. Anne on the right, holds the Virgin and Child on her right arm, while she extends the other towards the kneeling female donor, who clasps a vase in both hands. A prie dieu and cushion occupy the centre of the foreground. The inscription on the base is in French, but it is so badly defaced that only a few words can be deciphered. These show that the relief probably came from a private chapel dedicated to Saint Tomer. F. V. P.

Garrick Mallory Borden Memorial

AS a memorial to Garrick Mallory Borden,

late instructor at Harvard and lecturer at the Museum on Moslem Art, who died very suddenly on May 24, his friends have placed in the Library of the Museum a number of books, mainly on Mohammedan literature, including the following titles : Sacred Books of the East : Zend A vesta, 3 vols. ; Qur'an, 2 vols. ; The Shah Namah, Alex- ander Rogers, translator; A Literary History of the Arabs, by R. A. Nicholson ; A Literary History of Persia, by E. G. Browne ; Litt?rature Arabe, by Cl. Huart; Modern Arabic Stories, Ballads, Proverbs, and Idioms, 2 vols., by A. O. Green; Mohammedan Dynasties, by S. Lane- Poole ; Cairo, by S. Lane-Poole ; the Makamat of Hariri, 2 vols. ; Mohammed and the rise of Islam by Margoliouth ; The Arabian Nights.

A career already fruitful and one which prom- ised a conspicuous usefulness to this Museum was cut short by Mr. Borden's untimely death. He graduated at Cornell University in 1901 with the degree of B. S., and the next year received that of M. A. For three years he was lecturer on the history of art in the Extension Courses of the University of California. In 1907 he became Assistant to the Secretary of the Museum, and upon the establishment of Docent Service in April of that year was appointed, alone at first, to the new function. A few months later he was made Custodian of the Fine Arts Department of the Public Library, going thence to Harvard. His personal qualities won him many friends and his unusual attainments the respect of those best qual- ified to judge.

It is hoped that further contributions may make it possible to add other books to the collection in his memory. Subscriptions will be gladly re- ceived by the Bursar of the Museum.

Notes At THE ANNUAL MEETING of the Corporation

of the Museum, held on Thursday, January 16, two Trustees were elected to the Board, complet- ing its number. Mr. Alexander Cochrane was elected to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Mr. Samuel D. Warren,'and Mr. Augus-

tus Hemenway to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Mr. Nathaniel Thayer. Mr. Coch- rane was added to the Committee on the Museum which, by the By-Laws of the Institution, has

general supervision and control of all matters concerning the administration of the Museum. Mr. Augustus Hemenway is not new to the Board, having held the position of Trustee under

appointment from the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology during the years 1907, 1908, and 1909. Announcement was made of the appoint- ment of Mr. Robert Bacon as Trustee from Harvard College to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Dr. Arthur Tracy Cabot and of Mr. Robert S. Peabody as Trustee from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to fill the

vacancy occasioned by the death of Professor A. Lawrence Rotch.

The Advisory Committee on Education under the chairmanship of Dr. Eliot was reappointed. The Secretary of the Museum will in future be ex officio Secretary of this Committee, which has for its sphere of counsel all the many forms of edu- cational activity now in operation at the Museum. Mr. Huger Elliott was placed in general charge of these efforts with the title, Supervisor of Edu- cational Work. The management of the Docent service of the Museum, hitherto entrusted to Mr. Benjamin Ives Gilman, Secretary of the Museum, was, at Mr. Gilman's request, included in Mr. Elliott's sphere of duties.

Mr. Morris Carter, Librarian of the Museum, was appointed Assistant Director, to continue for the present in charge of the Library.

A SERIES OF TEN illustrated TALKS on Ev-

eryday Art, by Mr. Huger Elliott, Supervisor of Educational Work, is now in progress on Saturdays from 1 1 to 12 in the Lecture Hall of the Museum. The dates and subjects treated are as follows :

January 25. Introduction. "I don't know much about Art but I know what I like.**

February 1. Civic Jlrt. Public buildings. Streets. Parks.

February 8. Churches. Stained glass. Me- morials.

February 1 5. 'Dwellings. February 22. House Furnishings. Floors,

walls and ceilings. Wall paper, carpets and rugs. Hangings.

March 1. Furniture and Lighting. March 8. Silver and China. Ornaments

and books. Jewelry and dress. March 15. 'Painting. Photographs. Prints.

The decorative idea. March 22. Sculpture. Relation to Build-

ings and Parks. March 29. Recapitulation. The fee for the course is $5.00. Special fee

for teachers, $ 1.00. Applications for tickets are received in the Director's office at the Museum, or may be sent by mail addressed to the Director.

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